Tuesday Open Thread

Our baker baker posted this story on her facebook page and I couldn’t help but laugh. It’s Scary Mommy’s take on the whole “It gets easier” line of advice that new parents receive. She basically called bullsh*t:

It’s true: You won’t always be walking through life in a complete haze or sterilizing baby bottles for the rest of your life, but in my brief experience, parenting doesn’t get any easier. I look back on those days of schlepping around an infant carrier and complaining about spit-ups as the easiest I’ll ever have it. I’m sorry, new moms. Truly.

Some of her points are hilarious (“The bags under your eyes and the poochy stomach will go away. They will? Clearly I’m doing something wrong”) but overall, I found myself disagreeing. For me, it has gotten easier as my children have gotten older (and this is coming from someone who actually enjoys newborns and infants). I will say the sleep thing is probably 80% of it. But now that Maya is 7 and can entertain herself quietly without me worrying that she’s hurting herself or destroying our house, she seems way easy (check back when she becomes a teenager, I’m sure I’ll be eating my words!). Yes, I spend time schlepping her to lessons and practice, and supervising homework, and helping her navigate the social minefield that is 1st grade, but overall, it feels easy for the moment. Certainly easier than my 2-year-old who can’t sit through a meal, draws on the walls with crayons, naps when he damn well feels like it and can still throw a hell of a tantrum. Yesterday, he peed on the bathroom floor and when I looked over and realized what was happening, he had a shit-eating grin on his face. There’s really no other way to describe it. I was as appalled as I was amused!

What say you? Has it gotten easier as your kids have gotten older, or do you long for the days of the immobile, helpless infant who could be quieted with a boob or a bottle? Weigh in!